


A Priori

by missyvortexdv (Purpleyin), Purpleyin



Category: 4400
Genre: Angst, Gen, General
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-29
Updated: 2009-11-29
Packaged: 2017-10-03 23:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purpleyin/pseuds/missyvortexdv, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purpleyin/pseuds/Purpleyin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maia isn't like other children. She wishes she could be, but she knows she simply can't be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Priori

**Author's Note:**

> Betaread by Fanwoman.
> 
> Spoilers: All of Season 2

Unlike other children, Maia doesn't wonder about things much, apart from that which is neutral – she wonders about differences, things she's missed in her time away, things that are mostly tied to the past.

For other topics, wondering in any detail often leads to her mind exploring what will be. She can't help it in most cases, but sometimes she feels the pull of time as her other sense is dragged into the future to peek at the timeline. She's learnt to recognise the tension, and she can let go of the thought before it goes too far – banishing it in order to keep her naiveté.

Now she knows how to control the wanderings of her brain, and forego mundane predictions unless desired. She's rather hoping her birthday present will be a complete surprise – departing from the trend of her Christmas presents and last birthday gift. Maia likes surprises, and as a child, she hopes she gets many pleasant ones. She needs something to offset how many unpleasant visions she cannot stop herself from witnessing. There are good aspects of an unpredictable life, but you wouldn't know them until you have lived life wanting to wish away visions of the future.

She's grateful for people who care about _her_, never asking unless it's important. For moments, she can feel normal as they look upon her like any other child. The times when her mom cheerfully cooks her favorite food and they eat together; playing boards games with Marco when he babysits; when aunt April excitedly says hello, ringing up in the day specially to speak to her when her mom isn't around to contest it. All of those experiences feel real and fun. It's rare for her to feel that well grounded in this era, with little worry of time getting in the way. It's lack of time that is the problem, the absence of barriers between the present and the future that others take for granted. No one else will ever know what it's like, and she's happy for them. She just wants to be happy, too, but she sees things that suggest none of them will be happy for long. The war is starting, and Maia knows there's no chance she can be normal, or pretend she is anymore – she's meant to see what she does. She knows that, and she's relying on that. She will see what she must. So Maia doesn't question anything that she doesn't actually want to know. Everything else she wants to be a surprise.


End file.
